Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate events where African descendants are remunerated to speak with white audiences about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.
The History of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the UK, Germany, Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since those days, focusing less on the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and struggles for equality, and greater focus on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the celebration is commemorated is a indication of the political moment. How it develops is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how important it is to rethink Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the guise of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels emboldened to say that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, far-right parties are expanding in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the country. A campaign to scrub the history of people of color and legacy from the records is in progress. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives aimed at the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration represents how minimally it can be impactful if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or politically neutered celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also demonstrates how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to alter, change and broaden initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just discontinue things like Black History Month completely, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an era that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not avoid political issues, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves simple recognition of the bygone era when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Organizations who celebrate it should not be pacified with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the threats that affect everyone if anti-racism is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
